The Reputation Points Problem

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

Just now, Koloss17 said:

I mean, keep in mind I’m a tad out of touch with the current going ons of the Shard, as I took a year long break about two years ago (I think), and have only been semi-active ever since, mostly just vibing in the Alleyverse RP forum. So a few years ago, rep was something that was given out decently infrequently. Nowadays, I honestly don’t really know :/.

my bad on that, I’m just now coming to terms with the fact that I’m a bit more of a Shard veteran than I thought I was…

Yeah, that makes sense. If you haven't been on in awhile, that's fine. I cackled when I saw the word "conservative" next to "Sharders giving reputation points" and kinda knew that you at least haven't been much involved with the Status Update culture.

[Koloss17 She/They]

2 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

Yeah, that makes sense. If you haven't been on in awhile, that's fine. I cackled when I saw the word "conservative" next to "Sharders giving reputation points" and kinda knew that you at least haven't been much involved with the Status Update culture.

Noooop! I started by, and still do at times, frequenting the Cosmere and Mistborn forums, dabbling in in the social forums, but over the past year have mostly sequestered in and fostered a micro community within the RP side of things. Carrying the torch from Voidus and Ane, who both have much more important jobs in the Shard. 
 

So whenever the status update culture started, I have never even heard of it. I’m the hermit of the Shard, in my little hidey hole, poking out every now and again.

 

 

Given that the academic year is nearly over for me, perhaps I’ll try to be here more often…

[Treamayne]

12 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

And frankly, with how conservative Sharders tend to be with giving rep

50 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

Conservative? bahaha.

I think this is a combination of area culture and generation culture. I would posit that the number of rep awarded per day in "Community" is at least an order of magnitude greater than the number awarded per day in Cosmere Discussion (which would far outstrip Non-Cosmere, just by how active those boards are). Additionally, I feel like the majority of people active in Community are close in age/peer group, which also comprises the people active in making Status Updates and/or monitoring other people's status updates (please see this thread for my thoughts on that). Not to mention the "Shardbuddy" thing that uses peer pressure to make sure each person is adding Rep to "all my buddies" fairly consistently (regardless of post location or topic). 

I may be way off-base with this informal analysis, but really my only point is that any blanket characterization of how frequetly "Sharders" give "rep" is bound to be skewed by which sections of the forum a given individual is most active in reading and posting. I also think that regardless of the decision on handling rep in the future, the "problem" is unlikely to be significantly mitigated by any "solution" that only addresses one axis of the issue. Without a culture shift that rep is about "giving recognition when due" instead of "popularity contest" then the popularity contest will just find other avenues to be expressed. 

 

[AonEne he/him]

As I think on this more and continue to think it isn't as much a problem with the system itself as the way people use it, I have to throw out - it kind of sounds like people just want a different kind of platform entirely? Which is fine! I use more than one kind of website! But if you want short, fast posts with more engagement, people saying things when they agree, non-anonymous reactions with more variety, and less perceived impetus for a popularity contest - then what you want is Discord. I really like Discord, I find it very useful, and it's a different kind of communication than the Shard tends to naturally encourage. Short posts that don't say much are spammy over here, but less so over there, where conversations usually move in real time. There's a lot of socializing. 

The forums are a different kind of website. They tend to encourage longer, more thoughtful posts, specific topics that are revived here and there, games, and roleplays. (Though bAcK iN My dAy people wrote longer, slower RP posts that had more content in each one! They go zoom these days. Also a lot more happened in PMs that's seemed to move more to SUs, they were active before but they're thriving even more now.) Quick conversations are better suited for Discord in my opinion, while forums are better for longer-term activities or discussions. 

[alder24]

11 hours ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

Climbing the social ladder? Perhaps, but what about the people who don't receive as much rep as the rest of us? What about the people who don't do the things that get you more rep? Are they not deserving of "climbing the social ladder"? I merely think that the idea of getting ranked higher than other people to be a little flawed of an idea in and of itself. The same exact issues that exist with a rep count exist with a clearly telegraphed ranking system. At least, my issues with a universal rep count still exist with a ranking system. However, if we do a new set of ranks that are closer together and are not brought together in an easily accessed list of what is higher than the other, then I am completely fine with it, I just really do not like the idea of anyone being able to say that they are inherently better than someone else because more people liked their thing. I made the mistake of saying something I didn't mean along those lines and I know that there will be more dumb people besides myself who come along. 

That's a matter of an individual perspective. I don't see ranks as any kind of "social ladder," or an indication of "being better." For me it's just a fun thing to aim for. And I've already achieved the ranks I wanted to have, without specifically doing anything to get them and any new ranks aren't giving me as much fun as having a yellow text saying "sentient awakened object" under my name. I don't judge people based on their post or rep count, I wouldn't expect many to do so, some people whom I respect a lot on the Shard have much lower rank and post count than I do. In the end rank doesn't mean anything, it's just fun to be called a certain name from books because of your contribution.

Removing ranks because some might take them too seriously? That's not a problem with the system, that's a problem with people. You remove ranks and they will still find a way to turn something else into competition to boost their self-esteem, either by getting more responses to their SU then you do, or by getting more views in their thread than others do. You can't fix that by removing ranks or rep points. Ranks aren't the issue here, they're here to be funny, not to make you better.

[Immortal Platypus]

13 hours ago, Treamayne said:

Not to mention the "Shardbuddy" thing that uses peer pressure to make sure each person is adding Rep to "all my buddies" fairly consistently (regardless of post location or topic). 

I object to the notion that Shardbuddies encourage rep. If you have signatures turned on and see mine, you can see I have a couple shardbuddies. I don't give them rep any more often than to anyone else. I've never heard of that happening either (but it is possible that it does and I just don't know). My Shardbuddies also don't seem to give me rep at disproportionate levels.

[Treamayne]

46 minutes ago, Immortal Platypus said:

I object to the notion that Shardbuddies encourage rep. If you have signatures turned on and see mine, you can see I have a couple shardbuddies. I don't give them rep any more often than to anyone else. I've never heard of that happening either (but it is possible that it does and I just don't know). My Shardbuddies also don't seem to give me rep at disproportionate levels.

I was not intending to be accusatory, which is why my very next sentence was:

14 hours ago, Treamayne said:

I may be way off-base with this informal analysis

I based this hypothesis on checking the games section, and seeing posts that were minutes old - if the person had shardbuddies listed they nearly always had at least 1 rep and clicking on the profiles of the shardbuddies showed that at least one in the list was "currently reading" the minute-old post. Not conclusive, I understand - but 15 consecutive tests (over about 6 hours) yielding 100% (posts with both rep and shardbuddies always showed a shardbuddy reading the post) results is, at least, worrisome (and worth noting, even if the action is subconcious or non-pervasive). Granted, there is no way to know that the shardbuddy gave the rep.

Again, it's not conclusive; but does merit consideration. 

To be clear, I do not think "Shardbuddies" is a bad thing at all, but I do think it is a factor in the discussion at hand. 

[Immortal Platypus]

48 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

I was not intending to be accusatory, which is why my very next sentence was:

I based this hypothesis on checking the games section, and seeing posts that were minutes old - if the person had shardbuddies listed they nearly always had at least 1 rep and clicking on the profiles of the shardbuddies showed that at least one in the list was "currently reading" the minute-old post. Not conclusive, I understand - but 15 consecutive tests (over about 6 hours) yielding 100% (posts with both rep and shardbuddies always showed a shardbuddy reading the post) results is, at least, worrisome (and worth noting, even if the action is subconcious or non-pervasive). Granted, there is no way to know that the shardbuddy gave the rep.

Again, it's not conclusive; but does merit consideration. 

To be clear, I do not think "Shardbuddies" is a bad thing at all, but I do think it is a factor in the discussion at hand. 

My bad, I thought that sentence was referring to the following paragraph.

While this does deserve to be considered, I don't think that it is the idea of Shardbuddies that is causing this. I think that many people give out rep fairly commonly, especially in FGaRS. It's not uncommon to see random posts with a rep or two. I myself have had some posts that I didn't think deserved rep but got some. While I doubt that it is shardbuddies causing this, it is possible. I think that this is more likely a result of people being friends and following one another so when they get notified of the post, they check quickly and often rep it. I think that without Shardbuddies, this pattern would continue, just with followers instead of Shardbuddies. It is very likely that it is a subconscious action, but one that has more to do with being friends and following each other than it has to do with "Shardbuddies"

[Aeoryi she/her]

On 5/26/2024 at 10:16 PM, AonEne said:

Though bAcK iN My dAy people wrote longer, slower RP posts that had more content in each one! They go zoom these days.

OMG a veteran just like me

Rip multi paragraph rp posts

[Cookie Spren]

On 5/25/2024 at 7:58 PM, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

where we want to have a diversity of opinion, whether that opinion is "popular" or not (I know, my fellow conservatives, I used the d word. Relax)

I do get your point. I support your idea of the rank system going away. However your use of targeting a selective group (Conservatives) isn't cool dude. As a conservative myself I can tell you that not every one of us is like that. Putting labels on others because of a broad idea isn't something you should be doing. I do get where you're coming from though. There are some dumb people out there who think that being diverse is a war crime, and that's not the kind of person I am, so I just want you to kind of realize that just because there are a few select peoples being dumb, you shouldn't label such a broad group. I know it's an extreme example, but what if I went around saying that all leftists are extremists in the fact that only a few of them have problems. Even if it's a joke, some people (like me) might not see it as such, and I'm fully aware that that's my problem too. Anyway, just be smart on the internet. I know it can be easy to just say something like that while you're on the internet, but for all you know something as simple as that could be a real big blow to someone's emotional state (not that I'm totally angry). Just please, for the love of all that is holy, think before you act next time.  

All the best mate,

Your friendly neighborhood, Alley Cookie Collector.

[AonEne he/him]

I appreciate the good intent, but let's not diverge into politics here, particularly not after the thread hasn't been posted on in months. (If anyone wants to revive the actual topic, that's fine.) 

[Duxredux he/him]

Hum. I totally missed this thread at the creation and height of engagement. 

My two cents is that it may be worth exploring more into how reputation is used and perceived. Maybe we can maximize the positive use cases and distinguish the mechanics?

Reputation uses:

• Highlight community favorites
  • Leaderboard
  • Simply scrolling through a thread and looking for top comments
  • Longer threads already highlight top comments
  • For certain discussion it serves as an informal poll between ideas. For example, Coppermind threads where people debate whether or not to make a specific article or not. 
• Express acknowledgement of a concept or message. I assume that this will be more the case where there is a clear and distinct person likely to have given the rep, either by outright stating it as such, or when there is likely only a single person that it is aimed towards such as status updates.
• Incentivization
  • For some it's getting the cool new title. Previous comments have suggested making the titles time based - and the thing is to a certain extent they are. There's an average max of reputation per day that someone is likely to get, simply based on user traffic and reputation granting limitations. If you post consistently, eventually you'll rise in titles. 
  • I think it can encourage insightful commentary along with good community interaction - from what I've seen the community has consistently let it be known that behaviors like aggression or derogotory remarks are not appreciated. People who go out of their way to think of cool ideas, provide sources and citations, etc. are encouraged to continue.
  • Like with any other reward system, it can be taken to unhealthy extremes, but that's just how the full range of human behavior works. It's kind of an unfortunate but unavoidable circumstance where yes, a huge amount of advertising and marketing strategies can make life very difficult for a food addict, but it's not like the rest of the world can stop eating in front of them.
  • Welcoming new members. I think rep can be a way to easily make them feel like the community recognizes that they are there. The dangerous inverse of course is if a new member makes a couple dozen posts and no one gives any rep. At any rate, early on it is a way for new members to feel like they have been seen or made a contribution I think.

As others have mentioned, there are marked differences in how reputation is used and perceived between the different parts of the site. Discussion boards, community boatds, status updates, and site mechanics (like the Coppermind) to my eyes seem to naturally use reputation slightly differently. There's an implicit reason attached when reputation is used in each of those areas.

No idea if this is plausible on the website back end, but I personally would like a break down of top posts by major board category. I wouldn't mind if a top contributor was acknowledged for the 17th Shard category, because they are directly helping the site and community function better - and I'm happy if they are directly acknowledged for their contribution. For similar reasons I wouldn't mind seeing the top posts in the discussion category because people make some really cool insights that expands the way I view the topic. I've barely set foot in the RP section, so I'd let someone who frequents those parts state what they would find useful if highlighted by the community. For better or worse, sometimes I don't have time to read through page after page of a thread that exploded since I was last on, and looking for upvoted comments is how I decide which parts to read when I'm short on time. Not always the best way to do it, and I'm sure I've accidentally excluded people out of discussions, but sometimes I'll still end up 5 posts behind a comment simply because it takes me that long to compose a reply and others continued the conversation.

All in all, I think there's room for improvement, in large measure because having a global system to highlight community favorites can and will be heavily skewed because reputation doesn't actually mean the same thing in each category it's used. RP and status updates may be a popularity contest, but I'd be fine if people are acknowledge for contributions to the community for things like typo threads or 17th Shard discussion.

Edited November 18, 2024 by Duxredux

[Immortal Platypus]

5 hours ago, Duxredux said:

No idea if this is plausible on the website back end, but I personally would like a break down of top posts by major board category. I wouldn't mind if a top contributor was acknowledged for the 17th Shard category, because they are directly helping the site and community function better - and I'm happy if they are directly acknowledged for their contribution. For similar reasons I wouldn't mind seeing the top posts in the discussion category because people make some really cool insights that expands the way I view the topic. I've barely set foot in the RP section, so I'd let someone who frequents those parts state what they would find useful if highlighted by the community. For better or worse, sometimes I don't have time to read through page after page of a thread that exploded since I was last on, and looking for upvoted comments is how I decide which parts to read when I'm short on time. Not always the best way to do it, and I'm sure I've accidentally excluded people out of discussions, but sometimes I'll still end up 5 posts behind a comment simply because it takes me that long to compose a reply and others continued the conversation.

If I recall correctly, I believe around the time of the site update, staff mentioned something about the possibility of other things, similar to rep. This could, potentially, do something similar to that, where you have different "rep systems" (or in this case, entirely different rep options (or however the website back end would do it)) for different sub-forums. I think that, if the rep was to get a change because of this thread (or for a different reason), would probably be the most effective tool for keeping the goods (like the examples you gave in your post) while not drastically changing the entire system.

[Duxredux he/him]

10 hours ago, Immortal Platypus said:

If I recall correctly, I believe around the time of the site update, staff mentioned something about the possibility of other things, similar to rep. This could, potentially, do something similar to that, where you have different "rep systems" (or in this case, entirely different rep options (or however the website back end would do it)) for different sub-forums. I think that, if the rep was to get a change because of this thread (or for a different reason), would probably be the most effective tool for keeping the goods (like the examples you gave in your post) while not drastically changing the entire system.

If I'm reading this correctly, simply have a rep specific to each thread? That seems plausible. If they can make custom reactions, then I suspect that they could even make different rep reactions that look the same on the front end but are counted separately on the back end.

 

I thought about it over night, and I have a couple more ways to look at this, but it's very dependent on the capability on the back end. Let's see if I can more throughly elaborate on some of the positive use cases and perhaps ways they could be optimized.

For the categories that directly contribute to forum function, such as this one, post count and reputation is a simplified way of highlighting literal time and effort that a given member has put into making the site work better. This is a place where aggregating user rep earned is highlighting the work they are putting in. I'm sure many members on the forum aren't aware of just how much time and work go into making 17th Shard work.

I would definitely appreciate something that distinguishes between the main Cosmere discussion category and the Spoiler zone. Most of the top posts on the leader board last I checked sure look like spoiler period stuff, but because it only has the thread name and a snippet of the post, I have to guess when to stop reading. Within the Cosmere board, it seems that what is highlighted above the rest is what is particularly insightful and creative - particularly if you get above 5-6 rep. Here, I wouldn't mind individual posts pulled out and highlight because it is the content itself and the insight someone made that feels notable. Plain cool things like the model of Vin traveling by horseshoe are definitely worth highlighting for fans - in fact I kind of wish we had an archive of posts like this, even if it was getting permission to put a link to the thread in the Coppermind. 

Where "top posts" within a specific thread is particularly useful is for threads with hundreds of pages like the meme thread or "YKYASFW" where there is relatively little chronological importance. We'd lose that without reputation, and there's no way I would go through that many pages without highlights.

Again, not having stepped foot into the RP zone, but it seems like that is an area that could really benefit with a full range of reactions and emotes. Seems odd to give a big ol' heart to the player that just majestically orchestrated your demise. Because role playing is colaborative story telling, I think it may be more beneficial to highlight specific threads that worked really well, rather than individual members or posts. An off the cuff idea that I have with no idea if it is possible on the back end is this:

• Remove leaderboard and top posts from the RP zones because I'd guess the most awesome posts are awesome in the context of the narrative, not pulled out of isolation.
• Add in a bunch of other reactions than just the heart, possibly thematically appropriate or emotional reactions
• Remove reaction limits for the RP zone
• Display aggregates of each type of rep for the whole thread, rather than highlighting posts. In this case we can highlight the threads themselves that have high engagement or emotional arcs. It may also let new players decide if they want to jump in if the the major reaction to the thread as a whole is , , , , . or. Rather than highlighting individual actors within the role play or individual posts, it highlights the threads, story environments, and group as a whole. Really though, someone who has been in that section should tell me if this is a good idea or not.
• What I'm not sure on is if titles should still track it even if the rep limit is removed. I have the sneaking suspicion that the members on the RP thread are the ones who will take particular delight to rising to become a Dragon or Shard. I'd guess the members like me that dwell primarily in the discussion boards will be just fine with gaining rep much more slowly.  

 

In summary, I think there are legimate reasons for the community to react to and highlight individual posts, but in summary it could work better if it was highlighting what was valued in each category, be it individual posts, member contributions, or threads as a whole. If I was had time, and I knew which of the RP threads had really cool stories, then I might browse them to simply enjoy the stories others are telling, but I'm unlikely to do that with what I see on the outset.

[Mags she/they]

Popping in as an 'RP person' after skimming through your points a bit:

44 minutes ago, Duxredux said:

• Remove leaderboard and top posts from the RP zones because I'd guess the most awesome posts are awesome in the context of the narrative, not pulled out of isolation.

By 'top posts' are you referring to the posts labeled on the side of the thread as having the highest rep? (it's usually 1-2). If so, I would argue that having those top posts in the RP thread is still relevant, in some cases the most repped post are posts that give important details and information. That, and sometimes a post is most popular in an RP because it was particularly funny or well done. While I agree this means it can be somewhat out of context, I think that sometimes having random jokes tacked on the side while playing is kind of fun. 

(I made a stupid joke in Cosmere HG, and the fact that it's forever immortalized in the thread stats on the side makes me smile)

That said, it is less important, so if It had to be removed I wouldn't complain.

44 minutes ago, Duxredux said:

• Add in a bunch of other reactions than just the heart, possibly thematically appropriate or emotional reactions

I'm actually on another forum where this is done on the whole site and within the RP section, and it helps a lot. You know when a joke lands if you get laughs, and you know when a joke doesn't land when you don't lol. It really helps with communication and gauging who has seen and interacted with what when it comes to the group.

Additionally, that site shows you who the post was reacted too by (you click on the reactions at the bottom and it shows you a list of names). I really like this for inside and outside of the RP section because it helps you know who saw your communication and what they felt about it. It helps a lot with clarity. I know there is some merit to anonymity, but I personally wouldn't mind things being un-anonymus when it comes to reactions.

44 minutes ago, Duxredux said:

Display aggregates of each type of rep for the whole thread, rather than highlighting posts. In this case we can highlight the threads themselves that have high engagement or emotional arcs. It may also let new players decide if they want to jump in if the the major reaction to the thread as a whole is , , , , . or. Rather than highlighting individual actors within the role play or individual posts, it highlights the threads, story environments, and group as a whole. Really though, someone who has been in that section should tell me if this is a good idea or not.

I like this a lot too, though I don't think the most common reaction should be interpreted as the vibe of the RP, lol. There's a good deal of joking around that happens out-of-character in very serious role plays, so if this did happen, then it wouldn't be the most accurate gauge of emotion. 

44 minutes ago, Duxredux said:

• What I'm not sure on is if titles should still track it even if the rep limit is removed. I have the sneaking suspicion that the members on the RP thread are the ones who will take particular delight to rising to become a Dragon or Shard. I'd guess the members like me that dwell primarily in the discussion boards will be just fine with gaining rep much more slowly.  

Personally, I find myself never looking at the titles, and instead the number of rep on an individual. The rep count will tell me how much someone has contributed to the community, but the title is just a title (I don't have the ranking of them all memorized besides the first few, so the title for 1000 rep is the same to me as the title for 3000 rep). That's entirely my subjective opinion, however.

Edited November 19, 2024 by J. Magi

[Immortal Platypus]

2 hours ago, Duxredux said:

If I'm reading this correctly, simply have a rep specific to each thread? That seems plausible. If they can make custom reactions, then I suspect that they could even make different rep reactions that look the same on the front end but are counted separately on the back end.

Yes, that's pretty much exactly what I was talking about. I don't know about custom reactions, but I think it's likely that there are pre-programmed reactions (similar to the heart) that staff could implement. I could be very wrong about this though.

That second part would be useful. I don't know how easy it would be, but if it's possible, that would be awesome.

Quote

I thought about it over night, and I have a couple more ways to look at this, but it's very dependent on the capability on the back end. Let's see if I can more throughly elaborate on some of the positive use cases and perhaps ways they could be optimized.

For the categories that directly contribute to forum function, such as this one, post count and reputation is a simplified way of highlighting literal time and effort that a given member has put into making the site work better. This is a place where aggregating user rep earned is highlighting the work they are putting in. I'm sure many members on the forum aren't aware of just how much time and work go into making 17th Shard work.

I would definitely appreciate something that distinguishes between the main Cosmere discussion category and the Spoiler zone. Most of the top posts on the leader board last I checked sure look like spoiler period stuff, but because it only has the thread name and a snippet of the post, I have to guess when to stop reading. Within the Cosmere board, it seems that what is highlighted above the rest is what is particularly insightful and creative - particularly if you get above 5-6 rep. Here, I wouldn't mind individual posts pulled out and highlight because it is the content itself and the insight someone made that feels notable. Plain cool things like the model of Vin traveling by horseshoe are definitely worth highlighting for fans - in fact I kind of wish we had an archive of posts like this, even if it was getting permission to put a link to the thread in the Coppermind. 

Where "top posts" within a specific thread is particularly useful is for threads with hundreds of pages like the meme thread or "YKYASFW" where there is relatively little chronological importance. We'd lose that without reputation, and there's no way I would go through that many pages without highlights.

Again, not having stepped foot into the RP zone, but it seems like that is an area that could really benefit with a full range of reactions and emotes. Seems odd to give a big ol' heart to the player that just majestically orchestrated your demise. Because role playing is colaborative story telling, I think it may be more beneficial to highlight specific threads that worked really well, rather than individual members or posts. An off the cuff idea that I have with no idea if it is possible on the back end is this:

• Remove leaderboard and top posts from the RP zones because I'd guess the most awesome posts are awesome in the context of the narrative, not pulled out of isolation.
• Add in a bunch of other reactions than just the heart, possibly thematically appropriate or emotional reactions
• Remove reaction limits for the RP zone
• Display aggregates of each type of rep for the whole thread, rather than highlighting posts. In this case we can highlight the threads themselves that have high engagement or emotional arcs. It may also let new players decide if they want to jump in if the the major reaction to the thread as a whole is , , , , . or. Rather than highlighting individual actors within the role play or individual posts, it highlights the threads, story environments, and group as a whole. Really though, someone who has been in that section should tell me if this is a good idea or not.
• What I'm not sure on is if titles should still track it even if the rep limit is removed. I have the sneaking suspicion that the members on the RP thread are the ones who will take particular delight to rising to become a Dragon or Shard. I'd guess the members like me that dwell primarily in the discussion boards will be just fine with gaining rep much more slowly.  

 

In summary, I think there are legimate reasons for the community to react to and highlight individual posts, but in summary it could work better if it was highlighting what was valued in each category, be it individual posts, member contributions, or threads as a whole. If I was had time, and I knew which of the RP threads had really cool stories, then I might browse them to simply enjoy the stories others are telling, but I'm unlikely to do that with what I see on the outset.

mostly I agree. the mood of an RP probably wouldn't be super accurately judged by the reactions (do to joking and other OOC interactions), but it would still be more accurate than just rep. The summary at the bottom is something that seems accurate. However, I believe one of the main points about rep that people raised was that it can contribute to poor mental health. This doesn't solve that problem, but I can't think of any solution that solves that, besides maybe removing it all together. Even so, something would probably rise to fill its place, so I don't know how important of a point that is.

[Treamayne]

21 minutes ago, Immortal Platypus said:

This doesn't solve that problem, but I can't think of any solution that solves that, besides maybe removing it all together.

That was why I suggested this on page 1:

On 5/26/2024 at 10:15 AM, Treamayne said:

I do not know if it is possible, but it might be nice if Rep could be like Signatures - where individuals can turn on/off if they display their rep information for everybody and whether they see that info from anybody. It would provide some levels of self-regulation (that, unfortunately would also require some level of self-awareness to realize "having this off is better for me than having it on"). 

May not be a solution, but it might be a step in the right direction (if it is even possible). 

[Immortal Platypus]

41 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

That was why I suggested this on page 1:

May not be a solution, but it might be a step in the right direction (if it is even possible). 

I think a combinations of that, and the idea of multiple rep systems (assuming both are possible) would be nice. Even so, I doubt that adding a toggle switch would help with mental help too much, nor removing it all together. As with most systems, there is room for misuse, but this seems better than many.

[Treamayne]

1 minute ago, Immortal Platypus said:

I think a combinations of that, and the idea of multiple rep systems (assuming both are possible) would be nice. Even so, I doubt that adding a toggle switch would help with mental help too much, nor removing it all together. As with most systems, there is room for misuse, but this seems better than many.

It would definitely need to be supplemented with instruction and a culture shift - but the premise of at least having the choice seems like it may help; since friends can watch out for friends, even when that person does not recognize for themselves that turning the feature off or on would help with their specific situation.

[Cookie Spren]

On 11/15/2024 at 11:16 AM, AonEne said:

I appreciate the good intent, but let's not diverge into politics here, particularly not after the thread hasn't been posted on in months. (If anyone wants to revive the actual topic, that's fine.) 

Totally 

[Terrisman]

On 5/25/2024 at 10:52 PM, The cheeseman said:

I, for one, agree with you. Which is why I am not repping the OP.

In addition, I would like to call out the two people (at the time of posting) who have repped the OP. You, whoever you may be, are engaging with the Shard in exactly the way Thaid says is an issue. You are acknowledging the existence of his post, and, seemingly, agreeing with it. But instead of engaging with it in any meaningful way, you are simply pressing a button and continuing on to surf the interwebs.

Post, reply, engage. Don't just rep.

Why do I have an incredible urge to rep this post?

[Argenti he/him]

3 hours ago, Terrisman said:

Why do I have an incredible urge to rep this post?

See this is worth rep.